Recently I assisted running the Statistics Bootcamp at the Australian National University. The workshop was organised by the Researcher Development Team and led by A/Prof Alice Richardson of the Statistical Support Network.

The bootcamp was an intense 3-day period of learning and doing for the HDR participants, from 10 – 12 May 2023. This was the only the second time for a statistically-focused bootcamp, and it attracted over fifty expressions of interest amongst the PhD cohort across ANU.

The bootcamp consists of a combination of short lectures and extended writing periods. The goal of these combinations is to encourage graduate students to think about the statistical implications of their proposed research projects before they begin analysis. For example, what is the research question? What data will you use? What is the main exposure or outcome? What are the confounders? How will you deal with missing data? By encouraging students to write a data analysis plan early, we can establish the amount of work needed early on in the research program, and hopeful avoid any design problems early in the process (rather than explaining that statitics aren’t magic near the hand in date).

The data analysis plan template can be found at this address: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Lmchg6JHhSOCMgq3ulcyHIox80LPMWFLbRgNtgEjXi4/edit

The schedule and materials for the 2023 Bootcamp can be found at this address: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rz6aYXV7eXfAdfa01GXuRpTJT4peBLB2/edit